1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a touch panel with haptic feedback, i.e., comprising a vibratory actuator able to transmit a vibration to the touch panel, in particular when activating a command using the touch panel. The present disclosure relates to any type of touch panel associated or not to a display screen.
The present disclosure applies in particular to terminals provided with a touch panel, such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDA), global positioning systems (GPS), readers of multimedia files, control interfaces for computers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Touch panels using haptic feedback comprise one or more vibratory actuators which are excited by an electrical signal when the terminal detects the input of a command by the user using the touch panel. A vibration is thus transmitted to the user to indicate that his/her command has been acknowledged.
The vibratory actuators commonly used in touch panels using haptic feedback are discrete components of piezoelectric, electromagnetic or electrostatic type, which are mechanically coupled, directly or indirectly, to a plate forming the touch panel, where the user puts the finger or a stylus. The result is that some dimensions may be an issue in a small mobile terminal such as a phone, in particular when the touch panel is associated with a display. Indeed, the vibratory elements cannot be arranged in front of the display and there is often little room left around the display in the mobile terminal. The result is also that manufacturing and integration costs may be not negligible.
In mobile terminals, the vibratory actuators of piezoelectric type are preferred due to their lower electrical consumption. In a mobile phone comprising a touch display screen, the vibratory actuators are generally arranged around the display screen and make the entire phone vibrate, which results in a significant loss of energy which reduces the autonomy of the mobile phone.